By: Janyce Gately MS, RD, LDN, HC
Cooking with herbs and spices is an easy way to add flavor, color and fragrance to foods. But beyond the flavor enhancing power of spices, they are also loaded with vitamins and minerals and have important medicinal benefits.
Long before their culinary use, spices were used in many cultures for their antimicrobial properties, and to stimulate the immune system to help reduce illness. Spices have also been used for centuries to reduce inflammation. The anti-inflammatory benefits of spices are significant because chronic low grade inflammation in the body can damage healthy cells, tissues and organs and lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia, arthritis and depression.